Production of vehicle wheels



A ril 3, 1934. T. E. MURRAY, .JR.-, Er AL 1,953,361

PRODUCTION OF VEHICLE WHEELS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Sept. 17, 1924 [f E/FTH iV/lu/l/ms'. 351 5914: abtowmgo April 3, 1934.

T. E. MURRAY, JR., El AL PRODUCTION OF VEHICLE WHEELS Original Filed Sept. 7, 1924 5 heetsheet 2 wuexntom M455 M/Pfi/W JP. HEREERTE T. E. MURRAY, JR, m- AL 1,953,361

PRODUCTION OF VEHICLE WHEELS Original Filed Sept. 17, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 (J's wanton 720M455 m/FEHK Patented Apr. 3, 1934 re!) STA PRODUCTION OF VEHICLE WHEELS Thoinas E. Murray. J12.

Brooklyn, and Herbert H. Williams, deceased, law of New York, N. Y., by Mabel Shaw Williams, executrix, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, to Metropolitan Engineering Company, Brooklyn, N. Y... a corporation of New York Original application September 17, 1924, Serial No. 738,292. Divided and this application April 23, 1930, Serial No. 4.46.459-

In mating metal wheels for vehicles, and pen ticulerly for automobiles efforts have made vto provide a welded connection between an miller pa-it, such the rim or broke drum, and the body of the wheel, or between the n and o. ring or cl lugs, to which the body can be cttecl led. Such c welding operation involves con sidemble difficulties which it is the aim of present invention to avoid or reduce to e. mum.

In our application Serial No. 733,292, Patent No. Lilli-3%, we have claimed a wheel made ac cording to this invention. The present appliestion is c division thereof directed to the process.

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention. I

Fig. l is en extol section illustrating tl'ie op eretion oi welding c. disc to the inside of c. rim.

2 is c plan oi a part of Fig. l.

Figs. it are sectional views illustrating modificatlcns'in detail of the shapes of the posts which see welded together. Figs. 3 and 41-, Figs. 5 end l and 8 and Figs. 9 and to illustrate the dili ei'ent shapes respectively before and after welding. Figs. llto 1'6 illustrate other shapes before welding.

big. it is on exisl section illustrating the op eretlon of welding a. disc to a. difierent type Fig. 1? ise. radial section through c. rim brake drum, illustrating the application oi the invention thereto.

In Fig. 1 there is shown a disc 1, the outer edge of which is to be welded to c. circular rim 2. Such rims are generally made of rolled steel of uniform thickness, and the discs of sheet steel stamped todesired shapes and radial sections. The uniting of-the edge of the disc to the fiat inner face of the rim presents considerable difilcultles in the pressing of the parts together dur ing the. welding operation and in the rapid radiation of heat from the joint owing to the great surface of the parts adjacent to the joint. We shape the parts so that they can be pressed together in the axial direction, which can be easily done and not involve any distortion of the parts. A shoulder is provided on the inner side of the rim against which the edge of thedisc is pressed. Such a'shoulder is provided, according to Fig. 1, by forming a. projection 3 on the inner side of the rim, which projection can be rolled integral with the rim. Preferably this projection is formed by enlarging the thickness of the rim rather than by bending the latter, so that a certain quantity of the metal can be fused and taken up in the weld ng ness oi the rim itself.

The parts are placed together, as illustrated,

between 2 pair of electrodes 4 and 5 which are pressed together in the axial direction, while it til welding current is passed. hreferebly the method of welding is that described in the Murray l te issue Patent No. 15.4.66 of October 10, 1922, in the parts are pressed together while e cur rent is pessedecross the joint, of high ampere lit? trodes are'moved. Fig. 1 illustrates the electrode w e extending vei'y close to the edge of the disc 1 the electrode 5 extending very close to the shoulder of the projection 3, leaving only e sufilcient clearance to permit the required taking up metsl when the parts ere pressed toward each other during the welding. The projection 3 may se e. continuous ring extending entirely around the inside of the rim 2. or it may be c. succession oi segments or lugs.

The shape of this projection in cross-section g5 and the shone oi the edge of the disc may be con siderebly varied. The invention is applicable to rims of a great variety in shape and to discs of great variety, and not only to discs, but also to various other parts which are to be attached to W rims, brake drums, hubs and so-iorth. Some of the variations are illustrated in the succeeding figures.

According to Fig. 3 the disc l is provided with a. short flange 6 which presents an edge to the 5 shoulder-of the projection 3 and thus allows for a certain take-up of metal in the welding opera tion; the finished joint being substantially as in Fig. l, where the flange 6 has been removed by fusing and squeezing out under pressure.

According to Fig. 5 another standard type of rim 2 is illustrated and a disc 1 is shown which has a. long oblique flange 7 on the end. This makes point contacts with the projection 3 and thus concentrates the heat at the beginning of the welding operation. This edge is taken up to some extent in welding until a. goodjoint is made, as shown in Fig. 6.

Fig. 7 illustrates another common style of rim joined to a. disc 1 which is flat on its edge. The

operation without diminishing the thick- 1 L'i order to projection 3 on the disc, however, is provided at its upper edge with a shoulder 8 which is oblique at the inner portion, so as to make a reduced contact with the flat edge of the disc at the beginning of the operation and thus to concentrate the heat; this oblique portion of the shoulder being taken up and disappearing in the joint when completed, as in Fig. 8.

According to Fig. 9 the entire upper face 9 of the projection is oblique, and all of the excess metal thus provided is taken up in the finished joint Fi 10.

According to Fig. 11 the projection 3 is made wider than the bearing flange 6 on the edge of the disc 1. There is thus provided a space 10 between the two which accommodates and catches the flash or extruded metal.

According to Fig. 12, the projection 3 is made with an upper portion 11 of the same width as the edge of the flange 6 on the disc, so as to lessen the radiation which would occur from a wider face (as in Fig. 11); and below the part 11 the projection has an inward tapering face 12 to accommodate the flash produced by the fusing of the parts 6 and 11. The projection 3 will be made of such depth as to permit the take-up of a certain portion of it in the welding operation. Fig. 13 illustrates it with a tapered lower portion and with extra depth produced by a rectangular portion 13 at the top equal in width to the contact edge of the disc. This flgure also illustrates the provision of a flange 14 on the disc 1 which has a contact edge of greater width than the thickness of the disc. I

Such a flange is produced by swaging or upsetting the edge of the disc. This operation produces also a square face on the peripheral edge of the disc which gives a better contact with the inner face of the rim than is secured by the rounded face in Fig. 12 produced by bending ,down the flange 6.

Fig. 14 illustrates the application of a disc which is fiat on the edge to a projection 15 which is rectangular in section so as to provide a square under face for bearing against the electrode.

In Fig. 16 we have illustrated the method applied to the welding of a ring 16 to a rim 2. The ring is provided with a flange on its edge welded to a projection 3 on the rim in the manner indicated in Fig. 11. The disc 1 has a flange 1'? bearing against the under side of the rim and has a flat portion bearing against the tapered under side of the projection 3 of the rim and bearing also against an internal flange on the ring 16. A bolt 18 passing through the ring 16 and the disc is used to fasten the latter in place.

Fig. 16 illustrates the same idea applied to the fastening of a certain standard wheel center within the rim. The wheel center comprises a ring or felloe 19 mounted on the ends of spokes 20. The parts are held together by bolts 21 passing through the welded ring 16 and through the felloe and drawing the latter up against the under side of the shoulder 3 and the inner flange of the ring 16. The same idea may be applied to various other styles of wheel center and rim.

The joint is welded not only between the disc and the projection 3 but also between the edge of the disc and the inner face of the rim. A wide edge on the disc, as in Fig. 13 for example, will therefore result in a better joint.

The invention is applicable to the weldingof various other annular parts than the rims referred to above, such, for example, as brake drums, hubs and the like. Fig. 18 shows a brake drum 22 made of a plate or sheet and provided with projections 23 and 24 near the inner edge, having transverse faces to which are applied the central portion 25 of the disc and a ring 27 which constitutes a continuation of the disc, the latter being welded, in turn, to the transverse face of a projection 8 on a rim 2 of the style illustrated in Fi 7.

The inner part of the wheel referred to herein may be the disc 1 or any of the other parts above referred to which are located on the inside of the tire-carrying rim; and this would include the parts 25 and 2'7 of Fig. 18, though the latter is outside of the brake drum 22 to which it is welded. All these inner parts are substantially or approximately in planes transverse to the axis of the wheel and therefore are defined herein as transverse parts.

Fig. 17 illustrates a modification in the shape of the electrodes in the case of a rim 2 of the shape shown in Figs. 5 and 9. The upper electrode 4 is similar to that in Fig. 1, since it has only to fit the disc of the wheel. The lower electrode 28, however, has flanges 29 fitting against the outside of the rim 2 and holding it steady while a shoulder 30 holds the rim up into place. Since the shoulder 30 is remote from the point oi the weld the flange 29 is made to extend practically up to such point so as to get the efficient heating effect desired and the concentration of heat at the welding point.

Various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In the making of a wheel, the method of joining a rim or other annular part with an inner part lying in a position transverse to the axis which consists in forming a projection on the inner face of the rim having a face transverse to the axis of the wheel forming a flange on the inner part and bringing it to bear on said projection and welding the inner part to the said transverse face by pressing the parts together with the pressure applied in a direction parallel to the axis while fusing them along the transverse meeting plane.

2. In the making of a wheel, the method of joining a rim or other annular part with an inner part which comprises forming a projection on the rim and a flange on the outer edge of said inner part and welding the inner part to said projection by pressure which takes up the metal of said flange during the welding.

3. The method of manufacturing a welded metal wheel assembly comprising a rim and a body portionjwhich comprises providing a transverse continuous annular projection on the inner circumference of the rim, providing a lateral projection on the peripheral edge of the body portion, positioning the peripheral edge of the body portion with the lateral projection resting upon the annular rim projection pressing the parts together with a pressure exerted in an axial direction through a determined take up distance and welding the contacting surfaces together with a resistance butt weld the lateral projection on the peripheral edge of said body portion providing the metal for the take up.

4. The method of manufacturinga metal wheel comprising a rim, an annular ring member and a wheel body, which comprises providing a transverse annular projection on the inner circumference of the rim, positioning the peripheral edge of the annular ring member thereupon pressing the parts together with a pressure exerted in an axial direction through a determined take up distance, welding the contacting'surfaces together with a resistance butt weld, and then uniting the body portion to the ring portion by mechanical engaging means.

5. The method of manufacturing a metal wheel comprising a. rim, an annular ring member and a. wheel body, which comprises providing a transverse segmented annular projection on the inner circumference of the rim, positioning the periph- 

